Snowsport instructor training industry

October, 2009. Snowsport instructor training industry

Tim Brewster

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Chilly economic predictions for the ski season and associated tourism dollar seem to have had little effect on a niche industry established to target the British gap year market.

Alongside record visits this winter for Australians, the number of young Brits taking snowboard and ski instructor training courses in the Southern Lakes were up on last year meaning lucrative spin-offs for local businesses.

“We’re also starting to see older professionals who are taking redundancy or graduates wanting a break from a highly competitive job market in Britain,” says Garett Shore of the Rookie Academy.

The Wanaka based training company closed applications for its main 12 week $20,000 certification course at Treble Cone more than two months before opening day (June 27) and almost filled their other courses – totalling over 100 clients who lived in Wanaka for up to three months.

British companies have also targeted the New Zealand season with several offering package gap year products through Cardrona Alpine Resort for over a decade.

The resort has been offering certification based courses since it began training students for Otago Polytechnic adventure tourism courses in 1995 and this year includes 50 British trainees for their full time ten week course.

Matt Phare of Snow Trainers in Queenstown has been running courses for seven years and says they had their best year yet with 30 mainly gap year clients and the Instructor Training Company, also in Queenstown, reports similar numbers for the season.

Shore says the discretionary spending on top of course costs (which include accommodation) can be up to $10,000 per candidate as they outfit themselves with equipment and clothing, visit bars and restaurants and take part in adventure activities in the area such as heliskiing, jetboating, bungee jumping and skydiving.

Financial benefits for the resort towns are extensive with restaurants, retailers, accommodation and transport providers vying for the spending money of the young, often affluent visitors for their three month stay.

Not surprisingly the students tend to come from the more well off families in Britain with the snowsport courses competing with, among other things, polo camps in Argentina and SCUBA courses in Costa Rica

Regulars from a popular après ski spot in Wanaka still recall the “Moet girls” from two winters ago who would celebrate the end of a training week buying ‘rounds’ and drinking bottles of the exclusive French champagne with straws.

If they pass their end of course tests, clients are qualified to work as instructors in New Zealand, the U.S. and Canada as well as some European countries.

Shore and Rookie Academy founder, Dean Hunter, both ski-mad former Dunedinites and qualified examiners for the New Zealand Snowsport Instructors Alliance, joined forces over a decade ago to start targeting overseas clients and within a couple of years the ‘gap year’ market was a major part of their business.

Hunter says there has been a trend toward an active break with packaged ‘gap year’ courses offering diving, surfing and horse riding becoming more popular and the added attraction of trip to New Zealand has helped the business grow.

“The gap year for students is a big draw card, also the career gap concept is growing for those that are burnt out and need a change in their life. Many are (also) interested in having an instructor qualification to get into the industry for a couple of years and in becoming a much better rider or skier.”

A strong web presence and “word of mouth” over the last decade has been a major part of their marketing, but recently Hunter has been spending more time on social media sites such as Facebook to network with former clients and deal with inquiries.

While he says a strong customer service ethic and a commitment to high quality training are key, the passion he and Shore have for the job has been the driving force behind the company’s growth.

The Rookie Academy now employ 20 qualified instructor trainers for most of the season, and eight years ago expanded their operation to the U.S. running courses in Colorado.

The U.S. operation has been “tough going and still is,” with liability and visa regulations but he says it is an untouched market and has great potential.

The clients are mainly funded by their families and some have said that New Zealand’s safe reputation was a major factor in their choice instead of a backpacking trip through South East Asia – which may have been done by their parents two decades ago.

Cardrona’s Snowsport director Bridget Legnavsky says apart from the economic benefits for the Wanaka area the training work has benefited New Zealand instructors with secure, well paid career opportunities.

A fully qualified trainer can earn $250 a day and with courses fees paid in advance, can be guaranteed fulltime work for the season.

The training industry has also raised the profile of New Zealand instructors working overseas enabling them to gain seasonal H2B employment visas in most North American resorts.

ENDS

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